The University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication ranked No. 1 overall in the 2025 BEA Festival School Rankings, released by the Broadcast Education Association. 

The BEA Festival is a major international media competition for student and faculty creative work. Over the past five years, nearly 7,250 student entries were submitted by more than 300 institutions worldwide. The rankings reflect both the quantity and quality of student projects judged through a blind review by academic and industry professionals. 

The rankings focus solely on student achievement and are based on outcomes, not academic programs or curricula. Submissions compete across seven media categories: audio, documentary, film and video, interactive multimedia and emerging technologies, news, scriptwriting and sports. 

Gaylord College placed highly in several individual categories: 

• Film and Video — 1st 
• News — 3rd 
• Scriptwriting — 3rd 
• Sports — 4th 
• Documentary — 6th 

Only about 20% of entries advance to the final round of judging. Top entries receive one of five honors: First Place, Second Place, Third Place, Award of Excellence or Best of Festival, which carries the most weight in the rankings. 

In total, 159 schools had student winners included in this year’s results. Final scores were verified by the BEA Festival Advisory Committee, which includes past festival chairs and creative directors. 

To view the full rankings, visit the BEA website.